No. 2 Sooners Blaze to 197.625 Win

194.900

197.625

Team Scores
	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor
OU	49.450	49.350	49.400	49.425
ARK	49.100	48.450	48.375	48.975

Event Winners
Event	Gymnast	Score
Vault	Haley Scaman	9.95
Bars	McKenzie Wofford	9.925
Beam	Chayse Capps	9.925
Floor	Haley Scaman	9.95
AA	Amanda Wellick	38.800

OU Team Highs
Event	Gymnast	Score
Vault	Haley Scaman	9.95
Bars	McKenzie Wofford	9.925
Beam	Chayse Capps	9.925
Floor	Haley Scaman	9.95

NORMAN -- A new season meant another dominant opening score from the second-ranked Oklahoma women's gymnastics team.

Veteran performances and exciting debuts from several freshmen sent the Sooners surging past No. 13 Arkansas to the tune of a 197.625-194.900 final.

"I'm super excited that the meet went the way it did," head coach K.J. Kindler said. "You work really hard all preseason and you need a benchmark to start the year. You need to go out and kind of get rid of those jitters and I feel like they did."

OU swept individual titles on all four apparatuses, including meet-bests of 9.95 on vault and floor exercise from Haley Scaman to open the season. McKenzie Wofford put up a stellar bar routine to take top honors with a 9.925, and Chayse Capps picked up the beam title with a fluid and near-effortless 9.925.

Also standing out for OU across the board was true freshman Ali Jackson. The Missouri native debuted with 9.925 performances on both vault and floor and added a 9.875 in exhibition on uneven bars.

"Ali, as a freshman - she looked like a veteran competing out there," Kindler said. "She also looked a little bit like a freshman because her eyes lit up like diamonds when she landed."

The Sooners opened on vault with a big 49.450 rotation highlighted by 9.9-plus routines from Ali Jackson, Maile'ana Kanewa and Haley Scaman. Kanewa soared for a 9.9, barely missing a step from her All-American campaign last season. Jackson and Scaman both showed off massive height and distance on their vaults, coming down clean for respective efforts of 9.925 and 9.95.

Also shining for the Sooners was Hunter Price; the junior broke into the vault lineup and nailed a 9.85 routine for a new career-high.

OU jumped out to an early 49.450-48.450 lead over the Razorbacks, capitalizing on a handful of tough mistakes for Arkansas. Paige Zaziski led the Razorbacks on bars with a 9.85 in the anchor position.

Mental poise drove the Sooners to a strong effort of on both bars and beam after rocky starts to each rotation.

"We had a couple of mistakes early in the lineup on bars and beam and I really felt like the team handled it very well - very maturely - and with a lot of ease and calm," Kindler remarked.

After a tough routine in the leadoff position on bars, Keeley Kmieciak bounced back with a 9.85 effort to hit the reset button for OU. Erica Brewer tacked on a strong 9.875 in the No. 3 spot and Wofford followed with her beautifully executed routine for the meet's top bars score. Scaman and true freshman Brenna Dowell wrapped up with identical efforts of 9.85 to total a 49.350 for the Sooners on the event.

At the midway point of the meet, OU stretched its lead over UA to 98.800-97.550. Arkansas picked up a 49.100 on vault that included a 9.9 routine from Zaziski to lead.

The Sooners were back to their old magic on beam, using strong performances from the backend of the lineup for a 49.400. Anchor Capps captured a 9.925 for her exquisite performance and steady seniors Rebecca Clark and Erica Brewer boosted Oklahoma with identical 9.9s.

Equally crucial for the Sooners was sophomore Kara Lovan, who snapped up a 9.875 to open an uptick in scoring in the No. 3 position. Senior Haley Sorensen also shined in an exhibition routine for a 9.875.

The Razorbacks added a 48.975 in the third rotation that included 9.875 efforts from both Samantha Nelson and Amanda Wellick. After three events, OU sat comfortably in front of Arkansas to the tune of 148.200-146.525.

Oklahoma closed the night on floor with a big 49.425 effort. Scaman and Jackson led the way, with Scaman's meet-high 9.95 coming in the anchor spot and Jackson adding her 9.925 in the No. 5 position. Brewer was strong as ever in the leadoff position, picking up a 9.875 to start OU on the right foot. Lovan added a 9.85 in the No. 3 spot to boost the squad as well.

A tough rotation on beam forced the Razorbacks to count a fall as the squad finished with a 48.475 and a 194.900 overall. A 9.825 from Sydnie Dillard was the top beam effort for UA.

The Sooners will be back in action next weekend, facing No. 17 Minnesota on the road in Minneapolis. The meet is slated for a 4 p.m. CT start on Saturday, Jan. 17.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Erica Brewer

Chayse Capps

Rebecca Clark

Brenna Dowell

Maile'ana Kanewa

Keeley Kmieciak

Kara Lovan

Hunter Price

Haley Scaman

Haley Sorensen

McKenzie Wofford

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University of Oklahoma Athletics